Man with robbery charges freed one year later

A young man on a robbery charge has been freed from his legal worries after he was discharged Monday, May 11, exactly one year after the date of the alleged offence.

Jamal Samuel was 22 years old when he was charged with robbing a 17-year-old student of Spring Village.

On May 11, 2019, in the area of Wilson Hill, Samuel, a resident of Ottley Hall, was alleged to have pointed a gun at the teen to compel him to hand over a Samsung Galaxy cellphone worth EC$1400, containing a Flow sim card valued EC$15.00, and $25 in cash.

However, when the matter was called at the Serious Offences Court (SOC) yesterday, this very serious charge, which could have seen Samuel being sentenced at the High Court to a long period of time in jail if he was convicted, was dropped.

The prosecution had attempted to request a short adjournment because there was a statement from the victim in the matter which said that he didn’t want to continue.

Nevertheless, Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche wanted the complainant himself to come to the courtroom to indicate this personally. The veteran prosecutor stated he had learned from his experiences, referring to the fact that persons may change their mind.

However, Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne noted that on the last occasion the matter came before her it was given a final adjournment to allow them to locate the complainant who could not be found.

Following this she made the decision to discharge the accused.